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A side on image of a gluten free lemon drizzle cake being sprinkled with icing sugar. The cake sits atop a white marble table against a black backdrop and is topped with drizzled icing and dried lemon slices. Icing sugar sprinkles down from the top of the image

Gluten free lemon drizzle cake

Gluten free, nut free, FODMAP friendly
5 from 13
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine Food Intolerance Friendly
Servings 10 slices

Equipment

  • 1 x L24cm x W11cm xH10cm metal loaf tin (I used a USA pan)
  • Stand mixer with a paddle attachment (you could also probably use hand beaters

Ingredients
  

For the cake:

  • 160 g white or brown rice flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
  • 200 g unsalted butter at room temperature not melted, not rock hard
  • 1/2 tablespoon oil any light plain flavoured oil, I used vegetable
  • 200 g caster sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract optional
  • 1 tablespoon milk of choice I used soy milk
  • 4 extra large eggs (45-55g per egg, weighed out of shell)

For the lemon syrup:

  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 3 tablespoons sugar

For the lemon drizzle icing:

  • 1 cup icing sugar
  • 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice to your preferred thickness

Instructions
 

To make the cake:

  • The night before, get your eggs and butter out of the fridge. See notes.
  • Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Grease and line your loaf pan.
  • Weigh out the sugar in small bowl and set aside.
  • Weigh out the flour and whisk it together with the baking powder and salt. Sieve once and set aside.
  • Place the room temperature butter in your stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Beat on a low-medium speed until it is soft and pliable, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Depending on the temperature of your butter, this might only take a minute or two.
  • Once the butter is soft and pliable, add the oil and sugar. Scrape down the sides and turn the mixer to a medium-high speed (I use speed 5 or 6 on my KitchenAid). Beat for 3-5 minutes until the mixture is super light in colour and fluffy in texture. This may take longer in winter, so be patient (but don’t leave it for too long or you’ll deflate the mixture).
  • Once the butter and sugar are creamed, turn the mixer to a low speed and beat in one egg at a time. I find I need to scrape the sides down after each egg.
  • After the 3rd and 4th eggs, the batter will look a little lumpy and split. This is normal – gluten free baking requires more moisture than regular baking. Continue scraping the sides down and beating on low until the eggs are combined (even if it looks lumpy).
  • Add the vanilla bean paste while the mixer is off (it gets tangled in the paddle) and mix just to combine.
  • Add the flour mixture in 3 lots while the mixer is running on low. In between adding the flour, add the tablespoon of room temperature milk.
  • Continue adding flour and mixing until just combined until you have incorporated all the flour. Scrape down the sides to ensure there’s no butter heavy bits, and gently mix one last time.
  • Use a spatula to gently transfer the mixture to the lined and greased loaf tin. Gently spread the mixture into all corners of the tin and create an even top.
  • Place the tin in the oven and turn the heat down to 160C/320F. Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

To make the lemon drizzle:

  • Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and cook for 5 or so minutes until the mixture has become slightly more viscous. Set aside.

To make the lemon icing (optional but delicious):

  • Place the icing sugar in a small mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice incrementally until you reach your desired consistency for icing. Add a pinch of fine salt to balance the flavours. You could also add some fine lemon zest here for an extra lemon hit.

To finish your lemon drizzle cake:

  • Once the cake is cooked, remove it from the oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes. Use a skewer to poke lots of little holes through the cake (the holes act as syrup entry points). Pour the syrup, slowly and increments, onto the cake. Allow it to absorb while the cake cools completely in the pan.
  • When the cake is cool, add the lemon icing and serve.

Notes

  • Room temperature eggs and butter are crucial for this cake. In winter, I recommend getting them out the night before. I actually never keep eggs in the fridge, but Australia has decent egg safety standards. In summer, get them out an hour or two before, or just long enough to allow them to come to room temperature.
  • For best results, read through the body of the post. I have covered tips and tricks extensively.
  • Don’t open the oven to check on the cake until about 1 hour into the cooking time (and even then, only if you must). It is cooked on a very gentle heat, so the risk of burning is low. The risk is high for deflating the centre by opening the oven, though, which is why I suggest not doing that.
  • If you can, it can help to leave the loaf to cool in the oven. If there’s even a hint of undercooked centre, this will help it from deflating dramatically.
    I recommend a steel loaf pan for this recipe – silicon doesn’t have enough structure to keep the loaf from expanding outwards.
Keyword gluten free cake without xanthan gum, gluten free lemon drizzle, gluten free pound cake
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